Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Race Charities Give 1% Of Donations To Research

by Gary Snyder

A Minnesota-based non-profit organization that claims
it is "Helping Research One Race at a Time" actually donates only
about a penny-and-a-half for every dollar it raises for medical research,
according to financial records obtained by Kare
11.

Team Ortho Foundationsponsors some of the most popular running events in the
Twin Cities. Their races include the just-completed "Monster Dash" on
Halloween, the "Polar Dash" in January, the "Get Lucky"
race in March, and "Women Rock" in August.

Team Ortho also sponsors
similar races in Chicago and Dallas-Ft. Worth.

The most recent
report shows that in 2013 Team Ortho brought in $4,362,877. Of that, what went
to charities like Shriners Hospital was just $72,700. A year earlier, it was a similar
story. Of $3,599,851 raised, just $36,550 trickled down to charity.

Do the math. The average amount going to charity is just a penny and a
half out of every dollar raised.

Some trips to China
to bring back customized Team Ortho outfits sound more like all expense paid
vacations. The executive director personally took as many as a dozen trips a
year overseas in recent years. Some of them are documented with personal photos
on his Facebook page.

About Me

Gary Snyder is the author, most recently, of the groundbreaking expose on the charitable sector, Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector as well as the often-cited guide on best practices and key concepts, Nonprofits: On
the Brink.

He is the publisher of a
twice-monthly newsletter, Nonprofit Imperative that gives an update on the current status of the
charitable sector.

Snyder is often quoted and frequent contributor to the blog of the National
Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Snyder twiceauthored the Governance Chapter of the Michigan
Nonprofit Management Manual (4th and 5th editions).

He is a speaker on ethics,
financial and governance matters of the sector. For almost a decade, Snyder is frequently
consulted by Congress and has been quoted in print, broadcast and online media
outlets.